


Jobs

by MelyndaR



Series: Highlights series [14]
Category: Courageous (2011)
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-15
Updated: 2018-05-15
Packaged: 2019-05-07 13:26:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 487
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14672010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MelyndaR/pseuds/MelyndaR
Summary: Javier thinks a little too much about work - or his lack thereof - but Carmen is there for him to set him straight.





	Jobs

_And thou shalt be secure, because there is hope; yea, thou shalt dig about thee, and thou shalt take thy rest in safety. ~ Job 11:18_

* * *

Javier did his best to never, ever complain… but it was hard, constantly being out of work. On the worst days, when he let it, it made him feel like less of a man. He wanted to be a good man, he tried his best, but clearly there were times that wasn’t enough. He couldn’t even provide for his family like he wanted to. They deserved better than what they had – better than a battered car and a poorly-constructed house. Rice and beans for dinner three nights in a row. Shoes that were held together by duct-tape that Carmen had colored with Sharpie.

He _hated_ it. They deserved better.

But he couldn’t provide it. And for that there were days that he nearly hated himself.

Those were the days that he thanked God for Carmen the most. Sweet Carmen who could soothe and sass him in the same breath, the one person he felt he could confide the worst of his thoughts in. Carmen, who dragged him out of his thoughts with alternately sweet and stern – but always wise – sentiments of her own.

“Yes, Javi,” she took his hands across their tiny kitchen table, the solitary dim bulb above them making her eyes gleam that much brighter as she seemed to stare into his very heart. “We do not have the best _things,_ but we do not need them. We are safe here, we are clean and healthy and fed. It is enough.”

“That’s true enough, and I know it is, but, Carmen, some _security,_ some knowledge of how things will be from one day to the next – that would be nice!” He frowned deeply, staring at their intertwined hands.

“Javi.” She said his name gravely, waiting until his eyes met hers before she continued speaking. “We do have security. In our faith, in our God and His provision for us. He knows what we need, and though we may not always have the best things, we will have what we need. I promise you that. _He_ promises us that. Please, Javi, I know it’s hard, but do not forget it. Or else you forget to have hope, and… that I do not want to see. Have hope. Have _faith_!”

He took a deep breath, letting it out as he searched her beloved face, thanking God for her once again. “I do,” he promised her, practically _feeling_ the weight in his chest ease as he returned to a better frame of mind. “And I will.”

Even when it was hard. Even when he was tempted to forget, he would do his best to remember. After all, it seemed like the least he could do when he knew that God _would_ provide what his family needed no matter what came their way.


End file.
